Machine for removing snow



Jan. 5, 1943. T. F. LEWIS 2,307,412

MACHINE FOR REMOVNG SNOW Filed Feb. 26, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 5, 1943. T. F. L Ewls 2,307,412

MACHINE FOR REMOVING SNOW Filed Feb. 26, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 5, 1943l UNITEDV STATES" PATENT OFFICE 2,307,412 MAcuiNuFon'MovmG snow Thomas l F. Lewis', Newburyport Mass.` naaienremains, 1941, saai No. 380,685 2 claires.' (Clisi-5e) T his invention relateswto Himprovements in a machine for removing snow of the type which picks up the snow and deposits the snow at the side of the path being cleared by the machine.l

It is an object of my invention to provide, improveniente in ,a machine for removing Snow. in which areiarymember attire irentfthe mae, Chine iS previdedwith .Snor/lifting bladesior picking up. andA raising the..sn9w.from the .ground and to further provide means fonclearing thejloV snow from the snow lifting blades and depositingy thesnow at the side of the path of travel of the machine, ,y Y i Itis .a further, ebieet @Linx/entice te pref,

vide e. machine ferremevinevsnon ,which is 0.1?

relatively .light-.Weight @elisiruetienv and .is .ele-` Signed i0 .be manually pushed ,ferr/ard. te. eler a pethinhe snow. Whieh machine is provided. with means for lifting the snowland othernmeansc,

I. thereto. A pair o f gears 28 are xed tothe shaft, 2 0 betweenthe tractionnwheels 22 and the side,

fer depesitinathe Snew. ettlieside L,eithe path of travel afterthe snow has been lifted. l

.Afufiher @Dieet ef my inventienis .te prei/ide.. e machine. .fer reiner/ine Snewnwiiiehe ,reta member` at thel front of the ,machine isprovilded;

with snow liftingblades which are1movable.asI 25r ihe'meehine meresferwerdielliftihe enew frein.. the y ground', and "to provide additional, lade; members meiinteafm. the Seefees beiweenae. snow `lifting blades which blade* members are movable. toA push the `snow@aterallyfrom the spaces between the snow lifting blades. I c

Further objects and `advantages ofl my, im; provements will beV more readilyr apparent frorrrV the following 'descriptionl'of a preferred Aemlo ment thereof as illustrated in the'attached drawings in which:

Fig. lis a'side'ele'vation of the machine for removing snow;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the plane indicated 3-3 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the plane indicated 4-il in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the snow lifting blades;

Fig. 6 is a bottom View of one of the pusher blades for the snow;

Fig. '7 is a side elevation of one of the pusher blades for the snow;

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic layout showing the cam track; and

Fig. 9 is a diagram of a modified drive which eliminates the idler gears of Figs. 1 and 2.

The snow removal machine as illustrated is of relatively light-Weight construction and is inof deeper snow and to clear wider areas, rthe' ma.- 5...

chine could readily be made to be power operated.

The frame l0 comprises theapproximately triangular side members I2 the side. portions of which are braced by the vertical struts I4. The

side members l2 are joined together by the cross strut .or brace I6. Bearings i8 are mounted on the side members l2 and support the rear vcross shaft 2 0. A pair of Atraction wheels 22 are fixed tothe shaft 20 and raisethe rear ends of, the

4side members I2 above the ground as shown in The machine may be pushed along by Fig. l. the handle 2li which is fixed to the yoke 26 carried by the shaft 2l)V and swingable with respect frame members l2, and the movement of the gears 28 is transmitted to idler gears 3l] mountc ed in bearings 32 fixed to the side frame members l2. c

At the front end ofthe machine bearings 34, xed to the side frame members l2, support the front cross shaft 36. The shaft 36 is fixed against rotation with respect to the frame by the nut members 38. A cylindrical drum @3 is Aiixed to the central portion of the shaft 36.V A pair of bearing sleeves 42 are mounted on the shaft adjacent the ends of the drum and serve as bearings for the hexagonal side plateslli to which sprocket gears d8 are xed by the bolts 46.'. i Motion is vtransmitted from the idler gears. 3f:

to fthesprocket gears '53' loy'ltheL chains 5). A modied. drive' as diagramma'ti'callyfshown in Fig.` 9 could be' employed in which the idler gears 3U are eliminated but the drive chain 5I must be crossed. The snow lifting blades 52 are xed at each end by the screw bolts 54 to the hexagonal side plates 44. The design of the snow lifting blades is shown in Fig. 5 to include the curved scoop-shaped blade portion 56, the angularly disposed flange members 58 which engage the corners of the hexagonal plates 44, and a second pair of flange portions 60 parallel to the flanges 58 but spaced to leave grooves E2 adapted to form guide tracks for the laterally movable blades as will be later described.

The laterally movable blades llili shown in detail in Fig. 7 are shaped to fit the space between the snow lifting blades 52 as shown in Fig. 4. Each of the blades 64 is formed with integral flange portions 66 which are adapted to t in If. it is,

the grooves B2 as shown in Fig. 4. The back side of each of the blades 64 is strengthened by a brace portion 08. The blades B4 also have an inwardly directed square-shaped boss 'I0 adapted to fit in the space between the flanges 58 of adjacent snow lifting blades 5G. The blades 64 are thereby held from turning with respect to the blades 56. The boss 'l0 carries a roller 'l2 which engages in a cam track M formed in the drum 40.

Since the drum 40 is stationary and the snow lifting blades 56 rotate around the drum 40, the laterally movable blade 64 will be moved to push the snow off to the side after the snow has been lifted. As shown in Fig. 8, each of the blades Sli remains stationary through approximately the lower 180 of movement, while the adjacent snow lifting blades are entering the snow and' while the snow is being initially lifted; then during the upper part of the travel Vof the snow lifting blades the laterally movable blades G4 will be caused to move from one side to the other of the machine thereby depositing the snow at the side. The transverse movement of the blade 64 takes place during approximately 90 of travel and during the next 90 of travel the blade B4 will be returned to its initial position.

Referring to Fig. l, it should be noted that the bottom portion of the front of the side frame members I'l, as indicated at lil, will rest upon the ground and form track or runner members for the machine. The blades 52 are thereby free to move without touching the ground. As the machine is pushed forwardly, the snow lifting blades 52 will turn counterclockwise as shown in Fig. l thereby picking up the snow and lifting it upwardly at the front of the machine.

My snow removal machine as illustrated and described provides rotatable means at the front of ,the machine for picking up the snow from the ground and lifting it above the level of the snow on the ground. vided for pushing the snow laterally after it has been raised whereby the snow is deposited at the side of the path of travel of the machine.

Various modifications may be resorted to in the details of construction without departing; from the spirit of my invention as covered by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for removing snow to clear a path, a frame comprising substantially triangular side members the lower forward ends of which provide runner portions adapted to slide on the ground, a cross shaft fixed to the upper forward ends of said side members, said Further means are pro@ therein, a snow lifting wheel mounted to rotate with respect to said cross shaft, said wheel comprising side plates journaled on said cross shaft, a plurality of scoop-shaped snow removing blades fixed at their ends to said side plates and a plurality of pusher blade members mounted in the spaces between said scoop-shaped blades and having curved side edges closely fitting the curvature of said scoop-shaped blades, said pusher blades being mounted to slide transversely with respect to said scoop-shaped blades through the provision of guide channels formed at the base of said scoop-shaped blades, said pusher blade members having inwardly directed pin-shaped projections the inner ends of which are round -and slidably engage the cam track in said cross shaft, said pusher blades being held against rotation by engagement of said pin-shaped extenions with the base portions of adjoining scoopshaped blades and means for rotating said snow lifting wheel in a direction opposite to the forward travel of the machine, said cam track being designed to cause said pusher blades to move laterally after the snow has been lifted and to deposit the snow at the side of the path being cleared.

shaft having a continuous cam track formed l 2. In a machine for removing snow to clear a path, a frame comprising substantially triangular side members the lower forward ends of which provide runner portions adapted to slide on the ground, a cross shaft fixed to the upper forward ends of said side members, said shaftl having a continuous cam track formed therein, a snow lifting wheel mounted to rotate with respect to said cross shaft, said wheel comprising side plates journaled on said cross shaft, a plurality of snow lifting blades fixed at their ends to said side plates and a plurality of pusher blade members mounted in the spaces between said lifting blades, said pusher blades being mounted to slidetransversely with respect to said lifting blades through the provision of guide channels formed at the base of said lifting blades, said pusher blade members having inwardly directed pin-shaped projections the inner ends of which slidably engage the cam track in said cross shaft, said pusher blades being held against rotation by engagement of said pinshaped extensions with the base portions of adjoining lifting blades and means for rotating said snow lifting wheel in a direction opposite to the forward travel of the machine, said cam track being designed to cause said pusher blades to move laterally afterthe snow has been lifted and to deposit the Snow at the side of the path being cleared.

THOMAS F. LEWIS. 

